Fellowship of Believers in Jesus: The failing church is being sifted
Published August 8, 2022
Part 2 of 4
Herat, July 2005 – Afghan peasant hand threshing in a field near the town
In Matthew 3:12, John the Baptist warned the Israelites of Judea that God was bringing a time of sifting. Jesus later warned Simon Peter that he would endure a sifting, but that Jesus had specifically prayed for him to overcome it. It seems that right now in the Western church, a time of sifting is happening also. And the question is: who will overcome it.
If you see something failing about modern Christianity, it is not The Church. It may be fellowships within a church; it may be programs by a church. It may be humans and their strategies within man centered churches. But, I assure you it is not The Church; it is not The Fellowship of believers in Jesus. What is failing are the plans and strategies of men who are not doing what Jesus said. Because He sustains His fellowship and He is building His gathering (Church). He continues to call the fields “white unto harvest”.
God’s Perspective
To understand, it helps to get a good look at how Jesus speaks to the seven churches in the book of The Revelation. (See Revelation Chapters 2 & 3)
In summary, we see: Church #1 Commended for faithfulness to truth, rebukes them for forsaking their first love.
Church #2 Commended for faithfulness and alerted that their coming persecution is a proof of their faithfulness, not a correction from Him. This is very key to our current understanding.
Church #3 Calls to repentance, corrected for syncretism with paganism. He lovingly calls them to overcome and promises rewards for those who do.
Church #4 Commended for love, service, faith and patience; but rebuked for false doctrine. Yet, He still promises that some of them will overcome and have power over the nations.
Church #5 Warned it is a dead church, yet He calls out those who will overcome and promises that they will walk with him in white garments, and He will confess them before His Father.
Church #6 He calls a faithful church, only one of two listed with no correction needed; because they kept his command to persevere. He promises they will not go through the Tribulation and will become pillars in the New City of Heavenly Jerusalem.
Church #7 He calls a detestable lukewarm church, yet He is still knocking and seeking those who will eat and fellowship with Him. Isn’t that interesting? He hasn’t given up on the detestable rich lukewarm church; He has plans for every faithful person in each of those churches, no matter how weird or wayward the larger group may be.
Who Succeeds and Who Fails
In all of these, can you tell which ones are failing? Only one is called dead – yet Jesus still calls the people within that church to walk with Him. One is severely rebuked for teaching false doctrine, yet Jesus still commends those who do not hold to the false doctrine, and He promises that He will come for them and give them power over the nations when He returns. Can you tell which ones are succeeding? The one which is promised to be spared/removed from the Tribulation does not have a long list of successes, just a commendation for having kept His Word and not denied His name. Perhaps our idea of success is different from Jesus.
So, Who is being Sifted out of those Seven Churches?
Those who forsake their first love (of Christ). Those who have compromised with paganism (creating syncretism) and who refuse to turn to Him. Those who adhere to false doctrine, in the midst of a church that has a history of faithfulness to truth. Those who are dead, having a reputation but no fruit. Those who have become so mild and lukewarm that Jesus is entirely outside. Is it any different today? The sifting is happening. Many will be sifted out. Many have been already. Does that mean The Church is a failure? No, this is how God preserves The Church.
What it means is that we can have a wrong definition of failure. Now, in certain places, especially in certain countries, you may see people and institutions failing. But that simply means they are being sifted as to who is, or is not, part of “The Church”. The truth is that many groups which were once committed to Jesus have departed from His work, forgotten His message and are no longer part of his Kingdom. But that has nothing to do with what Jesus is doing.
How can You Succeed in this Culture? There is a church in a US state where you may believe Christianity is dead or dying. When the pandemic hit, they were prepared because they had been listening to the Holy Spirit and were ready in advance to hold remote services through the internet. They never canceled services. They continued to hold them, just online. The core staff still came in and ran things as normal. They never restricted who could come. The vast majority stayed home for half a year, but the church itself kept functioning, kept worshiping, kept teaching, kept serving their community, kept praying, kept leading, and they grew during the pandemic.
That’s right, their church membership went up. They are now close to maxing out their current facility and considering going to 2 services each week. They even have followers from well outside their area who come to visit. They have reached many new people in their community and led them to Christ. Now, over 2 years after the lockdown started, that church is reaching more people in its own community and reaching other communities. Their donations went up, their viewers went up, their volunteers went up. Because they acted by faith and kept the lights on. What is their secret? Two things: They teach the Word and they do what it says.
So how do we discern between a true church and a false one? Continue on here.
Use these hashtags to find more content: #FellowshipOfBelievers #JesusFollowers #BeABerean
Fellowship of Believers in Jesus: The failing church is being sifted
Part 2 of 4
In Matthew 3:12, John the Baptist warned the Israelites of Judea that God was bringing a time of sifting. Jesus later warned Simon Peter that he would endure a sifting, but that Jesus had specifically prayed for him to overcome it. It seems that right now in the Western church, a time of sifting is happening also. And the question is: who will overcome it.
If you see something failing about modern Christianity, it is not The Church. It may be fellowships within a church; it may be programs by a church. It may be humans and their strategies within man centered churches. But, I assure you it is not The Church; it is not The Fellowship of believers in Jesus. What is failing are the plans and strategies of men who are not doing what Jesus said. Because He sustains His fellowship and He is building His gathering (Church). He continues to call the fields “white unto harvest”.
To understand, it helps to get a good look at how Jesus speaks to the seven churches in the book of The Revelation. (See Revelation Chapters 2 & 3)
In summary, we see:
Church #1 Commended for faithfulness to truth, rebukes them for forsaking their first love.
Church #2 Commended for faithfulness and alerted that their coming persecution is a proof of their faithfulness, not a correction from Him. This is very key to our current understanding.
Church #3 Calls to repentance, corrected for syncretism with paganism. He lovingly calls them to overcome and promises rewards for those who do.
Church #4 Commended for love, service, faith and patience; but rebuked for false doctrine. Yet, He still promises that some of them will overcome and have power over the nations.
Church #5 Warned it is a dead church, yet He calls out those who will overcome and promises that they will walk with him in white garments, and He will confess them before His Father.
Church #6 He calls a faithful church, only one of two listed with no correction needed; because they kept his command to persevere. He promises they will not go through the Tribulation and will become pillars in the New City of Heavenly Jerusalem.
Church #7 He calls a detestable lukewarm church, yet He is still knocking and seeking those who will eat and fellowship with Him. Isn’t that interesting? He hasn’t given up on the detestable rich lukewarm church; He has plans for every faithful person in each of those churches, no matter how weird or wayward the larger group may be.
Who Succeeds and Who Fails
In all of these, can you tell which ones are failing? Only one is called dead – yet Jesus still calls the people within that church to walk with Him. One is severely rebuked for teaching false doctrine, yet Jesus still commends those who do not hold to the false doctrine, and He promises that He will come for them and give them power over the nations when He returns. Can you tell which ones are succeeding? The one which is promised to be spared/removed from the Tribulation does not have a long list of successes, just a commendation for having kept His Word and not denied His name. Perhaps our idea of success is different from Jesus.
So, Who is being Sifted out of those Seven Churches?
Those who forsake their first love (of Christ). Those who have compromised with paganism (creating syncretism) and who refuse to turn to Him. Those who adhere to false doctrine, in the midst of a church that has a history of faithfulness to truth. Those who are dead, having a reputation but no fruit. Those who have become so mild and lukewarm that Jesus is entirely outside. Is it any different today? The sifting is happening. Many will be sifted out. Many have been already. Does that mean The Church is a failure? No, this is how God preserves The Church.
What it means is that we can have a wrong definition of failure. Now, in certain places, especially in certain countries, you may see people and institutions failing. But that simply means they are being sifted as to who is, or is not, part of “The Church”. The truth is that many groups which were once committed to Jesus have departed from His work, forgotten His message and are no longer part of his Kingdom. But that has nothing to do with what Jesus is doing.
How can You Succeed in this Culture?
There is a church in a US state where you may believe Christianity is dead or dying. When the pandemic hit, they were prepared because they had been listening to the Holy Spirit and were ready in advance to hold remote services through the internet. They never canceled services. They continued to hold them, just online. The core staff still came in and ran things as normal. They never restricted who could come. The vast majority stayed home for half a year, but the church itself kept functioning, kept worshiping, kept teaching, kept serving their community, kept praying, kept leading, and they grew during the pandemic.
That’s right, their church membership went up. They are now close to maxing out their current facility and considering going to 2 services each week. They even have followers from well outside their area who come to visit. They have reached many new people in their community and led them to Christ. Now, over 2 years after the lockdown started, that church is reaching more people in its own community and reaching other communities. Their donations went up, their viewers went up, their volunteers went up. Because they acted by faith and kept the lights on. What is their secret? Two things: They teach the Word and they do what it says.
So how do we discern between a true church and a false one? Continue on here.
Use these hashtags to find more content: #FellowshipOfBelievers #JesusFollowers #BeABerean
For more information about avoiding private interpretations, see our next message in this series.
Published in Commentary, Fellowship of Believers, Prepared Warriors and Teaching